"André the Giant has a Posse" sticker on a stop sign.

Andre the Giant Has a Posse is a street art campaign based on a design by Frank Shepard Fairey created in 1986 in Charleston, South Carolina. Distributed by the skater community, the Andre stickers began showing up in nearly every big city across the U.S.A. Later, when Fairey was a student at the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), he released his manifesto. At the time Fairey declared the campaign to be "an experiment in phenomenology." Over time the artwork has been reused in a number of ways and has become a world-wide movement, following in the footsteps of Ivan Stang's Church of the SubGenius and populist World War II icon "Kilroy Was Here". At the same time, Fairey's work has evolved stylistically and semantically into the OBEY Giant campaign. Image File history File links Andre the Giant has a posse sticker. ... André René Roussimoff (May 19, 1946 – January 27, 1993), best known as André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and actor. ... Street art is any art developed in public spaces — that is, in the streets — though the term usually refers to art of an illicit nature, as opposed to government sponsored initiatives. ... All Saints Chapel in the Cathedral Basilica of St. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... A skateboarder in the middle of a trick Skateboarding is the act of rolling on or interacting with a skateboard. ... For other uses, see Student (disambiguation). ... The Rhode Island School of Design (RISD, pronounced /RIZ-dee/) is one of the premier fine arts institutions in the United States. ... This article is about the philosophical movement. ... Rev. ... J. R. Bob Dobbs The Church of the SubGenius is a group that satirizes religion, conspiracy theory, UFOs and popular culture originally based in Dallas, Texas, which gained prominence in the 1980s and 1990s subculture, with a large presence on the Internet. ... Populism is a political ideology or rhetorical style that holds that the common person is oppressed by the elite in society, which exists only to serve its own interests, and therefore, the instruments of the State need to be grasped from this self-serving elite and instead used for the... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Look up icon in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article is about the graffiti. ...

History

Fairey and campaign co-creators, Michael Meinhart, Blaize Blouin, Alfred Hawkins, and Mike Mongo Nicholl created paper and vinyl stickers and posters with an image of the wrestler André the Giant and the text "ANDRE THE GIANT HAS A POSSE 7' 4", 520lb", as an in-joke directed at hip hop and skater subculture, and then began clandestinely (and somewhat fanatically) propagating and posting them in Providence, Rhode Island and the Eastern United States. Look up image in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Wrestling can be: Sport wrestling Professional wrestling Another term for grappling This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... André René Roussimoff (May 19, 1946 – January 27, 1993), best known as André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and actor. ... An in joke is a joke whose humour is clear only to those people who are in a group that has some prior knowledge (not known by the whole population) that makes the joke humorous. ... Hip hop is a subculture, which is said to have begun with the work of DJ Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, and Afrika Bambaattaa. ... A skateboarder in the middle of a trick Skateboarding is the act of rolling on or interacting with a skateboard. ... In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a set of people with a set of behaviors and beliefs, culture, which could be distinct or hidden, that differentiate them from the larger culture to which they belong. ... Providence redirects here. ... Red shows states east of the Mississippi River, pink shows states not fully eastern or western The U.S. Eastern states are the states east of the Mississippi River. ...

By the early 1990s, tens of thousands of paper and then vinyl stickers were photocopied and hand-silkscreened and put in visible places throughout the world, primarily in culturally influential urban settings in the United States, such as Philadelphia, Boston, New York City, Atlanta, Austin, Los Angeles, Sacramento and San Francisco, but also in places which travellers often visited such as Greece, London, Mexico, Argentina, Japan, and the Caribbean Islands. In effect, Fairey and associates were creating a 'posse' of a wide audience of those who were in on the joke and willing to spread the message, and those who were not but found the original image compelling. Image File history File links Vintage André the Giant stencil, Chelsea, Manhattan. ... André René Roussimoff (May 19, 1946 – January 27, 1993), best known as André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and actor. ... Chemical structure of the vinyl functional group. ... A small, much-used Xerox copier in a high school library. ... Screen-printing, also known as silkscreening or serigraphy, is a printmaking technique that creates a sharp-edged single-color image using a stencil and a porous fabric. ... Cities with at least a million inhabitants in 2006 An urban area is an area with an increased density of human-created structures in comparison to the areas surrounding it. ... For other uses, see Philadelphia (disambiguation) and Philly. ... Nickname: City on the Hill, Beantown, The Hub (of the Universe)1, Athens of America, The Cradle of Revolution, Puritan City, Americas Walking City Location in Massachusetts, USA Counties Suffolk County Mayor Thomas M. Menino(D) Area    - City 232. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... This article is about the state capital of Georgia. ... Austin is the capital of the U.S. state of Texas and the seat of Travis County. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ... Sacramento is a Spanish- and Portuguese-language word meaning sacrament; it is a common toponym in parts of the world where those tongues were or are spoken. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... West Indies redirects here. ... A small island in the Adriatic sea An island is any piece of land smaller than a continent and larger than a rock, that is completely surrounded by water. ...

OBEY sticker with Make Art Not War poster in NYC 2004

Threat of a lawsuit from Titan Sports, Inc. in 1998 ^[1] spurred Fairey to stop using the trademarked name André the Giant, and to create a more iconic image of the wrestler's face, now most often with the equally iconic branding OBEY. The "OBEY" slogan was not only a parody of propaganda, but also a direct homage to the "OBEY" signs found in the 1988 cult classic film, They Live, starring Roddy Piper. About "Obey," San Diego Union-Tribune art critic Robert L. Pincus says Fairey's work, "was a reaction against earlier political art, since it delivered no clear message. Still, “Obey” was suggestively antiauthoritarian."^[2] Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (694x994, 264 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): André the Giant Has a Posse Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (694x994, 264 KB) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): André the Giant Has a Posse Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera... World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... They Live is a 1988 film directed by John Carpenter, who also wrote the screenplay under the pseudonym “Frank Armitage”. The movie is based on Ray Nelsons 1963 short story Eight O’Clock in the Morning. ... Roderick George Toombs (born April 17, 1954) better known by his ring name Rowdy Roddy Piper, is a Canadian professional wrestler, and film actor. ... The San Diego Union-Tribune is a daily newspaper published in San Diego, California by the Copley Press. ...

OBEY Giant poster on building exterior.

Over time, Fairey's artistic imagery has evolved into a sometimes subtle, sometimes not, parody of a range of iconic styles, mostly a juxtaposition of popular political propagandas and multi-national commercialism. It usually bears the text OBEY Giant. In addition to countless small stickers, OBEY Giant has been spread by stencil, murals, and large wheatpaste posters, covering public spaces from abandoned building faces and street sign backs, to commercial spaces such as billboards and bus stop posters. Furthermore, the popular "OBEY" slogan and stylized André The Giant face continues to be reproduced on products ranging from art and clothing to home accessories and decor, considerably expanding the impact of the campaign through iconology based on an allegiance to media and popular culture in the guise of counterculture. Obey Giant image, taken by theinfo near Atlantic Terminal, Brooklyn, NY, 2004 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Look up juxtaposition in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Politics (disambiguation). ... 1967 Chinese propaganda poster from the Cultural Revolution. ... Commercialism, in its original meaning, is the practices, methods, aims, and spirit of commerce or business. ... Visual diagram of a basic stencil. ... Salle des illustres, ceiling painting, by Jean André Rixens. ... It has been suggested that Street poster art be merged into this article or section. ... Placard redirects here: this should not be confused with Plaque or Plack Poster from the Spanish Revolution A poster is any large piece of printed paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface. ... Look up slogan in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Fairey later used stencils to make posters on old wall paper: 'a simple way to make art for people who had seen my stuff on the street and wanted a piece'.

Parody stickers

Tattoo the Midget has a bigger posse parody sticker on traffic signal, next to an original sticker.

The original "André the Giant has a posse" sticker format has been widely imitated for humorous intent. In these parody stickers, the image of André the Giant has been replaced with a similarly stylized black and white photo of some other person or character, along with the new figure's height and weight. For example, the parody sticker "Tattoo the Midget has a bigger posse" features the image of Hervé Villechaize portraying the character "Tattoo" from Fantasy Island. Colin Purrington's "Charles Darwin has a posse" stickers, featuring a black and white photo of Charles Darwin, promote the teaching of evolution. Numerous other parody stickers can be found featuring different pop culture figures, including the Homestar Runner character Strong Mad.[1]. Image File history File links TattooPosse. ... Image File history File links TattooPosse. ... In contemporary usage, a parody (or lampoon) is a work that imitates another work in order to ridicule, ironically comment on, or poke some affectionate fun at the work itself, the subject of the work, the author or fictional voice of the parody, or another subject. ... Hervé Jean-Pierre Villechaize (April 23, 1943 – September 4, 1993) was a French actor who achieved worldwide recognition for his role as Mr. ... Fantasy Island refers to two separate but related American fantasy television series, both originally airing on the ABC television network. ... For other people of the same surname, and places and things named after Charles Darwin, see Darwin. ... Homestar Runner is a Flash animated Internet cartoon. ... Strong Mad is a character in the Homestar Runner series. ...

These parody stickers are a further extension of the original joke, and thus are most likely to be found in locations where the original André the Giant iconography is already familiar, such as SoHo, Manhattan, or South Street, Philadelphia. An unusual occurrence of a parody sticker was at the particle physics laboratory Fermilab where the director of the lab was the subject of the sticker^[3]. Cast-iron architecture in Greene Street SoHo is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan. ... This article is about the borough of New York City. ... South Street during the daytime, looking west. ... For other uses, see Philadelphia (disambiguation) and Philly. ... Aerial view of the Fermilab site. ...

Tenacious D produced stickers with the slogan "Obey the D" and stylized images of their members, Jack Black, and Kyle Gass, over their initials. This article is about the band. ...

Appearances in North American pop culture

• In an episode of Family Guy, Peter comments on the time he painted the Sistine Chapel. The scene then cuts away to Peter arguing with the Pope about his design, which is a stylized picture of Andre the Giant done in the OBEY style.
• Fender Guitars issued OBEY edition Squier Stratocaster and telecaster guitars[2]
• The Fuji Bike company also issued a Special OBEY edition fixed gear [3].

Family Guy is an Emmy Award-winning American animated television series about a dysfunctional family in the fictional town of Quahog, Rhode Island. ... Fender redirects here. ... Squier is a second-line brand of the Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. ... A fixed gear bicycle A fixed-gear bicycle, also known as a fixie, is a single speed bicycle without a freewheel. ...

See also

• André the Giant
• Che Guevara (photo)
• Culture jamming
• Graffiti
• Guerrilla art
• Kilroy was here
• Meme
• Pop art
• Schwa (art)
• Sticker art

André René Roussimoff (May 19, 1946 – January 27, 1993), best known as André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and actor. ... Alberto Kordas photograph of Che Guevara Alberto Kordas famous photograph of Che Guevara was taken on March 5, 1960 at a Cuban funeral service for victims of the La Coubre explosion,[1] but was published seven years later. ... Culture jamming is a resistance movement to cultural hegemony and the homogenous nature of popular culture, executed by means of guerrilla communication. ... For other uses, see Graffiti (disambiguation). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Street art. ... This article is about the graffiti. ... For other uses, see Meme (disambiguation). ... Just What Is It That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing? (1956) is one of the earliest works to be considered pop art. ... Schwa is the underground conceptual artwork of Bill Barker (b. ... Sticker art in a traffic light in Antwerp, Belgium. ...

References

External links

• Official Obey Giant Website
• TheGiant.Org - The Definitive Obey Giant Site
• Salon Interview with Shepard Fairey
• Filmed Interview with Shepard Fairey (Obey)